Heat exchangers arranged within fluid housings are known and are used for a variety of applications. In general, heat exchangers are often arranged within a fluid housing in order to either immerse the heat exchanger within a fluid or to allow a fluid to flow through the housing across the heat exchanger thereby bringing at least two different fluids into heat transfer relationship with one another. The arrangement of the fluid inlets/outlets on the housing and the overall structure of the housing can affect the fluid flow over and/or through the heat exchanger thereby impacting the overall efficiency and/or performance of the overall heat exchanger apparatus. The arrangement and/or positioning of the heat exchanger within an outer housing can also affect the overall performance of the apparatus in general. This is often apparent when fluid enters the housing in a different direction to which it exits the housing (or vice versa) as directional changes can often result in energy losses and/or increases in pressure drops across the corresponding apparatus. Additionally, the specific location of the fluid inlet on the housing can have an effect as to whether the incoming fluid stream is evenly and/or sufficiently distributed through the fluid channels associated with the corresponding heat exchanger or other apparatus thereby affecting the overall efficiency and performance of the apparatus. Accordingly, the manner in which incoming fluid is directed towards and/or discharged from an enclosed heat exchanger or other suitable component or apparatus is an important consideration when trying to optimize overall heat transfer performance.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved manifold structures for directing and/or distributing incoming and/or outgoing fluid streams, especially in instances where fluid enters a heat exchanger or other suitable apparatus at a different direction to the direction in which it exits the overall assembly or vice versa.